Summary

Mycobacterium abscessus is a rare cause of human infection and is difficult to diagnose unless it is suspected. A 45-year-old woman underwent deceased
donor liver transplantation following which she developed non-healing surgical site infection, which did not resolve with
routine antibiotics for 2 months. The scraping of the wound revealed M abscessus infection. Definitive identification of this species of mycobacterium was possible by its growth characteristics on culture
and reverse line blot hybridisation assay. She was treated with clarithromycin and cotrimaxazole as per sensitivity and showed
complete recovery from the infection within 6 weeks of starting the drugs, which were continued for 6 months. We believe that
this is the first documented case of surgical site infection by M abscessus in a liver transplant recipient.